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Chapter 40
🕑 Added 2023-11-25 01:00:03 +0000 UTCAlmost immediately upon hearing the system prompt, Lynne distinctly felt a change in the demeanor of the hunter in front of him. Compared to its earlier mechanical gaze, its eyes now radiated a cold and sagacious aura.
"Not good!"
A wave of intense danger surged over him.
"Left hand, be careful!" Lynne shouted. He instinctively began to retreat, but the hunter swiftly raised its head and darted towards him at lightning speed.
The left hand rapidly opened its gaping maw, resorting to its tried and tested strategy. Sharp tongues lashed out, surging towards the incoming hunter.
"Transform! High heat! Intense thermal attribute!"
The pupils of the hunter instantly radiated with the glow of scorching heat. The mantis blades on its arms began to flow with an intensely hot luminescence, emitting a shower of sparks.
Slish—
A loud sound echoed.
Amidst the chaotic whirlwind, the superheated blade made its slash. The left hand's extended tongue was neatly severed in the face of the extreme heat.
With a loud yelp, the left hand quickly recoiled, with only a smoking half of its tongue remaining.
"My tongue's gone!!" It (〃′皿`) exclaimed to Lynne.
Lynne, stepping back, asked sharply, "Can you regenerate it?"
The left hand (〝▼皿▼) flailed its remaining tongue and began to regenerate.
"It's growing back!!"
Almost instantly, the hunter appeared before Lynne like a lingering shadow, the blade, shimmering with its thermal aura, slashing toward him.
"I got this!"
The left hand (〝▼皿▼) instantly grabbed a boning knife wrapped around one of Lynne's tentacles.
Clash—
A fierce burst of light erupted.
The arm stretched out like a snake, and the left hand, wielding the knife, clashed blades with the hunter. Clearly, the resentment from having its tongue severed earlier was erupting in full force.
Clang—
Clang—
Blades met, sparking a myriad of fiery bursts.
Lynne could instantly discern that the hunter before him was different. It seemed like it had changed into an entirely new entity, with profound combat experience. Every strike and parry was masterful and calculated.
On the other hand, though Left Hand's assaults were fierce, they lacked finesse and structure, resembling a brute force wild slashing technique.
"Hidari!" Lynne quickly raised his weapon, relentlessly firing shots at the hunter's flank. "Where's the power you showed against the flesh puppet?! Weren't you so brave yesterday?"
While slashing, Left Hand (〝▼皿▼) retorted, "That was because I devoured it from the inside! Now, it's external! Even if I wanted to eat it, it could seriously harm me!"
Lynne shouted, "I am a healer! If it injures you, I'll stitch you up!"
Left Hand o(≧口≦)o exclaimed, "But there's no opportunity!"
Lynne swiftly retreated, his gaze darting around in search of a plan. Truly, this was a world where death could strike at any moment.
Opportunity?! Alright! I'll create that chance for you!
Lynne swiftly reached into his coat, pulling out a grotesque black eyeball, covered in bulbous growths.
[Cursed Pupil]
[Type: Cursed Object]
[Ability: When used by a flesh puppet, it can activate the 'Gaze Curse'.]
[Restrictions: Needs to fully integrate with the body before activation.]
[Description: The cursed eye of the Type 3 Blood Flesh Puppet. When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back. This eye is filled with malice and grudges. Everything that comes into its view dissolves, everything melts, everything crumbles…]
This eye was what he had extracted from Left Hand's stomach. And during his earlier ambush, he had studied it meticulously. One could say that for any other creature, this eyeball would be useless. But he was different! With the Flesh Catastrophe ability, he could integrate this eyeball into his own body.
In that case…
With a swift, grimacing motion, Lynne dug his fingers into his right eye socket.
[Ding! Your health is depleting!]
[Ding! Your health is depleting!]
In the very next moment,
Splurt—
A bloody eyeball was gouged out from his own right eye socket. He blew on it, gritting his teeth as he took out a small vial from his chest, placing his eyeball carefully inside. Then, with determination, he took the monstrous eyeball in his hand and, with one forceful push, lodged it into his own socket.
"Ah! Damn, that hurts!"
Blood streamed from Lynne's right eye as he swiftly activated the power of the Flesh Catastrophe.
Swish swish—
A multitude of neural tissues quickly enveloped the [Cursed Pupil].
[Ding! You have connected a new organ: Cursed Pupil!]
[Ding! Warning! Warning! The power level of the Cursed Pupil is too high, your control over additional limbs has significantly decreased!]
Swish swish—
The two tentacles behind him instantly withered and disintegrated. But it was enough! Because…
"Left hand!! Move away!!"
Lynne shouted, his face contorted in pain, clutching his bleeding right eye. The immense burden from the eye made him hunch over in agony.
Hearing the shout, the left hand retracted immediately. And upon seeing Lynne's right eye, it expressed sheer surprise.
"You used the puppet's eye?!!"
Almost immediately after its words ended, Lynne abruptly raised his head, his expression fierce, as he fixated his gaze upon the hunter.
Gaze Curse! Activate!!
Vrrrr—
A sound akin to a snapping string resonated. Lynne's right pupil contracted sharply. Countless intricate black lines rapidly converged at the center of his pupil. The hunter quivered instantly, sensing a sweeping tide of impending peril.
In the briefest moment, he instinctively ramped up his speed to the maximum, so swift that afterimages appeared. But the curse had already been cast.
Screech—
It was like the sharp wail of a tortured spirit. Wherever his gaze traveled, whether the surrounding walls or the stone bricks underfoot, they melted at an unimaginable rate into a viscous sludge. And this was an open space, there was nowhere to hide.
Even with the hunter's unparalleled speed, in this vast expanse, his body was instantly affected, with bubbling corrosion appearing all over its surface.
"The Cursed Pupil?!" The face of Mech-Demon controlling the hunter darkened drastically. "How can this be!"
At this very moment, he came to a certain realization. Even if his flesh puppet wasn't slain by this young man, he was undoubtedly connected! This man must be eliminated!
In an instant, he gritted his teeth, braving the bone-chilling corrosion and melting, and charged directly toward Lynne.
"Left hand! Quickly!" Lynne, trying to suppress his right eye, shouted madly.
At that moment, the left hand floated forward, revealing a smile both passionate and sharp.
"Alright! Leave it to me!"
Caw—
A sound reminiscent of a crow's cry echoed. The sharp maw on the left hand suddenly opened wide, unleashing a terrifying tearing force that swept across the entire street. The ground's stone bricks cracked and flew up, surrounding buildings cracked incessantly, and even the dark fog that hovered over the street was drawn into a whirlwind, being sucked into the left hand's mouth. It was like the eye of a storm. That dark mouth was like an abyss!
The face of the Mech-Demon turned pale in an instant. At that moment, even he had no choice but to halt, forcefully plunging his twin blades into the ground to prevent himself from being swallowed by the immense sucking force into that gaping maw. But in that split second, he felt an ominous premonition.
"It's a trap!" Mech-Demon roared.
"Got you!" A mysterious grin tore across Lynne's face. In a flash, his right eye focused on the hunter, who was forced to halt his rapid movements. The surging curse, like the whispers of malevolent spirits, instantly spread all over the hunter. Its body began to corrode rapidly.
Hiss hiss hiss hiss—
Massive blisters and boils, like those from a burn, bubbled up on its massive spider-like legs. Its visage became almost unrecognizable in an instant.
"Warning... Extensive dissolution damage detected... Initiating intensive healing... Activating curse countermeasures..."
The hunter's body instantly activated its inherent defense mechanisms. But just at that moment, it saw the human youth suddenly reach out, pulling from behind a limb wrapped in dark cloth.
"It's not over yet!!"
The corners of Lynne's mouth stretched to their limit, revealing a slightly manic and morbid smile. A massive unease instantly overwhelmed the Mech-Demon.
[Arm of Dragon's Breath]
[Type: Heavy bio-composite tissue]
[Ability: Exhale blazing dragon breath!]
[Description: A forbidden-type biomatter killing mechanism of the flesh puppet. This powerful weapon, combined with the head of a massive dragon, unleashes scorching dragon flames. Highly effective against dark creatures, this resentful dragon head will channel its endless hatred onto any foe before it...]
"Catastrophe!!" Lynne roared. His right hand hurled the severed arm into the air. The two tentacles on his back quickly wrapped around the arm. Flesh bubbled and surged as countless neural tissues spread over the severed part of the limb at an unimaginable pace.
[Ding! Warning! Warning! Overload in organism! Overload in organism!]
"Roar—"
In that instant, a deafening dragon's roar echoed throughout the night sky. The dark cloth wrapped around the severed arm burst open, revealing a massive dragon's head connected to the monstrous arm. It writhed and its eyes seethed with endless rage and pain.
"Dragon's Breath!!"
Lynne fiercely controlled the Arm of Dragon's Breath, directing the black dragon's head towards the hunter.
At that moment, a brilliant light, bright enough to illuminate the entire street, gathered in the mouth of the black dragon. Its massive maw gaped open as if it sought to cleanse the world of all impurities! The scorching breath of the enraged dragon, like an overturned river of magma, was unleashed upon the entire street.
Roar—
Blazing flames consumed everything in sight.
…
Crack crack crack—
Inside the Hanged Tower, that screen was entirely dominated by the sight of the roaring dragon's flames. Every researcher inside the hunter's hall displayed expressions of horror and astonishment. The sheer might made them involuntarily step back. And then, in the next moment, The screen for Hunter #3 shattered.
"Warning— Core meltdown of Hunter #3— Neural source synchronization automatically disconnected—"
Hiss hiss—
Accompanied by the acrid smell from the high temperature, the port pulled out from the back of Mech-Demon's head snapped. The severe backlash disconnected him from the neural synchronization with Hunter #3.
"Lord Mech-Demon! Are you alright?!"
Surrounding minions immediately gathered in alarm.
Mech-Demon gasped for breath, his face contorted with rage, with sparks flying from the mechanical parts on his face.
"That guy used the weapon of destruction I carefully installed in the Blood Flesh Puppet! How dare he!"
Boom!
With a single punch, he shattered the machine in front of him to pieces. He couldn't suppress his rage. In his view, that human was clearly a weakling! Apart from that bizarre left hand of his, the only effective weapon against him seemed to be the demon-hunting revolver in his grasp. But he never expected that the human could actually integrate the biological weapon of the flesh puppet into himself! No! That guy couldn't possibly be human! For no human could possess such terrifying abilities!
"Could it be... he's a biological weapon developed by Bloodsaw?!" He clenched his teeth.
Yes! This was the only possibility!
Bloodsaw was once an elder figure in their Demonfolk Association. He was among the leading bio-monsters researching the Colossus back in the day. Who's to say he hasn't developed a new bio-entity while hiding in that remote place over the past decade?
He gripped his fist tightly. The taunting smile on that human's face appeared before his eyes, mechanical components sparking and fizzling on his face. His eyes were filled with malevolence.
If it weren't for the limitations of remote control functions! If his main body was there, how would the so-called Cursed Pupil and Arm of Dragon's Breath matter?!
Elsewhere,
Crackle—
Accompanied by the sound of two signal cutoffs, two other screens abruptly went dark.
"Lord Mech-Demon! Hunter #1 and #2 have been destroyed by that Blood Clad Evil Spirit! We've lost the signal link to that location!"
Two minions approached with somber expressions.
Mech-Demon snarled, "No matter, tomorrow I will personally take my flesh puppets to meet them. Have you located Bloodsaw?!"
One of the minions replied gravely, "The other hunters are in pursuit. From the information we've received, it's highly likely that Bloodsaw has gone to the Puppet Courtyard. He and the Puppet Mistress there share an uncommon bond!"
Mech-Demon narrowed his eyes, his fingers cracking menacingly.
...
Wandering Soul Lane.
The Blood Clad Evil Spirit, having torn two hunters to shreds, quickly recovered from her frenzied cursed state. She immediately turned her gaze to the heavy smoke emanating from the other side of the street after the surging flames died down. And even for her, when the dragon's breath erupted earlier, she had felt palpitations and shock. She swiftly moved through the smoke.
"Lynne! Are you okay?!"
Upon seeing Lynne's condition, her expression shifted to one of astonishment.
The entire street was charred. At the end of the smoky stretch, Lynne was coughing heavily, and the Arm of Dragon's Breath from his shoulder was disconnecting from him, falling to the ground. The most horrifying part was his right eye. That dark Cursed Pupil—merely meeting its gaze could make one feel a mysterious and bone-chilling cold.
"I'm fine."
Lynne forcefully removed the Cursed Pupil from his right eye. Then, right in front of the Blood Clad Evil Spirit, he carefully took out his own eye from a bottle in his pocket.
Pop—
He pressed it back into his right eye socket.
[Blood Clad Evil Spirit's Sanity -5]
Lynne took out a healing potion and poured some into his eye, closing it, and smiled: "It's taken care of!"
Burp—
The left hand belched, revealing a satisfied canine tooth, and then spat out a screw.
[Ding! You've completed the mission: An Uneasy Night. Reward: Skull Coin x1000, Experience x1000]
[Ding! You've achieved the additional mission target: Eliminate 3 Hunters. Reward: Legendary Special Item: Night Doctors Class Change Scroll, Legendary Skill Scroll: Random Diagnosis]
[Ding! You've completed the mission: Survive. Reward: Experience x1000, Skull Coin x1000, Special Item: Nightfiend Blade]
Lynne's eyes sparkled. What a massive loot! He quickly checked the rewards he'd just received.
[Night Doctors Class Change Scroll]
[Type: Mission item]
[Description: They are doctors who walk in the dark, a group of highly compassionate surgical experts. Their goal is to see all their patients smile happily. They are committed to helping every creature rid themselves of diseases, so it's best to have some ailment when meeting them, or they might get upset...]
[Random Diagnosis]
[Quality: Special Legendary Skill]
[Effect: Arbitrarily diagnose a target with up to 20 diseases.]
[Description: He must be sick, right?... He should be... He can't possibly be healthy... There has to be something to diagnose, right?...]
